“Brooklyn. I’ll give you directions.”
Stone had left his office for the day and was in the basement exercise room, running on the treadmill, when the phone rang. He paused the treadmill and went to the phone on the wall.
“Stone Barrington.”
“It’s Dierdre.”
Dierdre was horny, that was it. Okay, he had a couple of hours before he had to meet Dino at Elaine’s. “Well, hi there,” he said, panting from his exertion.
“Did I interrupt you in bed?”
“No, I was on the treadmill. You want to come over?”
“I’m not in the mood right now.”
Stone was disappointed. “Whatever you say.”
“That’s not why I called.”
“What’s up?”
“Gus Castiglione got shivved at Rikers today; he’s dead.”
“Oh, no, there
goes most of your case. I mean, Herbie can testify to the kidnapping and the murder threat, but it was Gus who could really have put Dattila away, wasn’t it?”
“That isn’t all the news,” Dierdre said. “The two cops who were guarding Herbie at the hotel are both dead, small-caliber handgun, two each.”
“Oh, shit,” Stone said, dreading what might come next.
“One of the cops’ guns and the expense money in his pocket are missing.”
“And Herbie?”
“Herbie’s missing, too.”
51
Stone sat at Elaine’s, staring into his bourbon.
Dino sat down. “All right, what fresh disaster has visited you now?”
“A cascade of them,” Stone said. “First of all, Gus Castiglione got shivved at Rikers while on his way to the dining hall. You probably heard about that.”
“No. Although the NYPD’s grasp of technology is improving, I don’t yet get a daily e-mail about who got shivved at Rikers on his way to the dining hall. What else?”
“The two cops guarding Herbie at a hotel got capped, and Herbie’s missing.”
“All right, let’s start with Gus. I thought the D.A. had him on ice. What’s he doing going to the dining hall?”
“Nobody knows. He was supposed to eat in his cell, but the door was unlocked with all the rest, and he started for the dining hall.”
“That means Dattila has somebody inside who could work that.”
“Right.”
“With regard to Herbie, I thought he was in a safe hotel.”